Women in Dominican Art

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From the early moments of the introduction of modern art which followed the pictorial and sculptural production guidelines of European academics in the Dominican Republic, women have played a vital role in the nurturing of a national artistic identity. However, rarely are women given a prominent role in the storytelling of events and norms that have shaped art history in this Caribbean paradise.

The year 1844 marks two important moments in the history of the Dominican Republic. The first is independence, in which the country gains its autonomy from Haiti on February 27, 1844. Second, is the establishment of a national identity that includes "an artistic flourishing in which the seeds that take root and lead to the definitions of a national Dominican art are planted."

Through out this short history, from the introduction of the styles and mediums that make up what we call modern art, to contemporary times, women have contributed to the national artistic identity in many ways. This includes education, styles, themes and national and international success. Education, like in all societies, has been the most important process used to promote art throughout the Dominican Republic. Like the men credited as the precursors of Dominican art (Cordero, Desangles, Bonilla, Urdaneta), women too, from the early start, have provided the means for art education through workshops and academic positions.

The list of women that deserve to be highlighted is monumental. In this short article I've included many names from the modern era to contemporary times. Five women, however, are highlighted among the rest because of their contribution in the early stages of the development of the national artistic identity.

Adriana Billini (1865-1946), daughter of Epifanio Billini (1820-1891), born in Santo Domingo, the first female artist of the diaspora. One of—if not the first female working artist born in the Dominican Republic. At a young age her family moves to Cuba where Adriana studies art at the San Alejandro Academy in Habana. She had a notable career as an artist in Habana, where she opened an art workshop and edited a book for learning to draw. Adriana would also go on to teach art at the San Alejandro Academy. In 1927, she traveled to Santo Domingo for the first time to exhibit her work.

"The Chef" by Adriana Billini
Oil on canvas, completed in 1885

Celeste Woss y Gil (1890-1985), painter, sculptor and educator, is the first woman recognized as an important figure of the national artistic identity. The first female–master painter of Dominican art.

Woss y Gil was born in Santo Domingo, the daughter of María Ricart y Pou and Alejandro Woss y Gil (1856-1932), a former president of the Dominican Republic (1885-1887 and 1903). Eight months into the presidency in 1903, her father was removed and the family exiled to France. The family would later move to Cuba where Celeste would begin to study art under José Joaquín Tejada.

In 1922, Celeste traveled to New York City where she enrolled at the Art Students League of New York, and studies under artists such as Frank Vincent Du Mond. Two years later she would return to Santo Domingo and open her first art workshop. Celeste traveled back to New York in 1928 to complete her art studies, returning to Santo Domingo in 1931.

Celeste Woss y Gil was one of the first professors in the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo. During her tenure, she taught along great artists as Josep Gausachs, Manolo Pascual and José Vela Zanetti.

Her skill with the brush is evident in her works, and like Luis Desangles, her students include many of the great names remembered today (Delia Weber, Purita Barón, Gilberto Hernández Ortega).

Self Portrait, detail, by Celeste Woss y Gil
Oil on canvas, completed in 1930

Maria Lora de Dalmasi (1900-1973), born in the city of La Vega. She was an artist, teacher and social activist. In her later years Maria Lora was very involved with education and the promotion of the arts throughout her hometown of La Vega and the neighboring city of Cotuí. Two of the oldest colonial cities of the western hemisphere.

María Lora started studying music and painting at the age of 14 under a professor named Manuel A. Pueyo, a musician and artist that immigrated from Spain. She also studies art under another great artist from La Vega, Enrique García Godoy (1886-1947).

In 1924, she marries José Dalmasí, and they go on to have five children. But the role of motherhood and wife did not prevent her from continuing her educational activism as she assumes a teaching role and the restoration of religious images of churches in her hometown.

"Motherhood" by Maria Lora de Dalmasi
Oil on canvas, completed in 1920

Delia Weber (1900-1982), born in Santo Domingo, teacher, artist, poet and film actress and social activist. She studied art under three great artist, Celeste Woss y Gil, Adolfo García Obregón and Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta.

Her literary works include poems and novels. She published her first poems in 1918, in the feminist magazine "Revista Fémina." In 1939, she published two books "Ascuas vivas" and "Encuentro."

In 1923, Weber became one of the first women born in the Dominican Republic to appear in a leading role in film, with "Las emboscadas de Cupido" the second film made by Francisco Arturo Palau, a pioneer of Dominican film and photography.

"Cosmic imbalance" by Delia Weber
Oil on canvas, completed in 1971

Clara Ledesma (1924-1999), born in Santiago, died in New York in 1999. She received her first art lessons from 'Yoryi Morel, considered to be one of the founders of the modernist school of Dominican painting, along with Jaime Colson and Darío Suro.'

Ledesma was one of the first women to join the National School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1948. She then became a professor, and later became Deputy Director. With Jaime Colson, Joseph Gausachs and Gilberto Hernandez Ortega, she forms the artistic collaboration The Four.

In 1964, Clara Ledesma moved to New York where she lived and worked until her passing.

"Rural Landscape" by Clara Ledesma
Oil on canvas, completed in 1949

The following is a brief list of notable women in Dominican Art, from the modern era to contemporary times.

List of Women Artist from the Dominican Republic

Adriana Billini (1865-1946), born in Santo Domingo. Daughter of Epifanio Billini (1820-1891), she was the first female artist of the diaspora.

Celeste Woss y Gil (1890-1985), born in Santo Domingo. Woss y Gil is the first female master painter. She helped push the education of art in the country. One of the first instructors at the National School of Fine Arts.

Genoveva Báez (1895-1980), born in Santo Domingo. A relatively unknown artist, she studied art under Abelardo R. Urdaneta.

Maria Lora de Dalmasi (1900-1973), born in La Vega. Artist, teacher and social activist. Dalmasi was very involved with education in La Vega and Cotuí.

Delia Weber (1900-1982) was born in Santo Domingo. She was an artist, poet, writer, actor, a teacher and woman's rights activist.

Aida Ibarra (1911-2002), born in Santo Domingo, she began her art studies under Abelardo R odríguez Urdaneta, later moving to Paris where she continued to study art.

Elsa Gruning (1923-1990), born in Santo Domingo, she studied art under Celeste Woss y Gil. Gruning held several exhibitions in the Dominican Republic and abroad, including Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and the United States.

Clara Ledesma (1924-1999), born in Santiago de los Caballeros, she is one of the most recognizable names in Dominican art. One of the first women to join the National School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1948

Purita Baron (1924), born in Santo Domingo. A student of Celeste Woss y Gil and a graduate of the National School of Fine Arts.

Marianela Jiménez (1925-2013), born in Valverde, Mao. She studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo, and at the workshops of Celeste Woss y Gil.

Soucy de Pellerano (1928-2014), born in Santo Domingo. She was raised in Puerto Plata where she received the first artistic orientation at the academy of Rafael Arzeno.

Nidia Serra (1928-2010), was born in Santo Domingo. Serra was a graduate of the National School of Fine Arts.

Eridania Mir (1929), born in San Pedro de Macoris. Raised in Santo Domingo, she is also one of the early graduates of the National School of Fine Arts. Mir participates in biennials and several collective exhibitions.

Ada Balcácer (1930), born in Santo Domingo. She studied at the National School of Fine Arts. In 1946, she lost her arm in a horse riding accident. Before her accident she dreamed of being a doctor, it was after she lost her arm that art became her focus.

Rosa Tavarez (1939), born in Santiago de los Caballeros. Began her art studies under Yoryi Morel.

Elsa Núñez (1950) born in Santo Domingo. She is a graduate of the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo, and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Spain.

Amaya Salazar (1951), born in Santo Domingo. Painter and sculptor, began her studies in Santo Domingo and then continued in Spain and the United States.

Tomasina Tapia (1955), born Santo Domingo. A graduate of the National School of Fine Arts. Lives and works in Mexico.

Olivia Peguero (1961), born in Barahona. She completed a bachelor's degree of fine art studio painting from Florida Atlantic University, Florida; a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Mercy College, New York; and a master's degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University, Florida.

Luz Severino (1962), born in Sabana del la Mar. Studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo from 1986 to 1993, and printmaking from 1986 to 1987 at the Art Students League in New York.

Ines Tolentino (1963), born in Santo Domingo. Studied art in Paris (1980-1985).

Scherezade Garcia (1966), born in Santo Domingo. She is a painter, printmaker and installation artist.

Raquel Paiewonsky (1969), born in Puerto Plata. Multidisciplinary artist, Paiewonsky graduated in 1991 from the Altos de Chavón School of Design in La Romana.

The New Generation of Women Artist

Iliana Emilia Garcia (1970), born in Santo Domingo. She received her AAS from Altos de Chavon/The School of Design in 1989, and a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons The School of Design in 1991.

Citlally Miranda (1970), born in Santo Domingo. Multidisciplinary artist: drawing, painting, photography, performance, video, installations, and other mediums.

Kilia Llano (1971), born in Santo Domingo. Painter and muralist, studied at the Altos De Chavón School Of Design, and then Parson School Of Design.

Tania Marmolejo (1975), born in Santo Domingo. She studies Graphic Design and Illustration in Norway, and returns to the Dominican Republic to study Fine Arts at the Altos de Chavón School of Design.

Rosanna Cardenas Tavarez (1976), born in New York, NY, USA. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, earning a BFA 2004.

Belkis Ramirez (1957-2019), born in Santiago Rodriguez. She studied at the Universidad Autónoma of Santo Domingo, graduating with a degree in Architecture and Graphic Design in 1986.

Melissa Mejía Rizik (1979), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In 2005, Mejia Rizik graduated with honors in Fine Art and Illustration from Altos de Chavon School of Design.

Firelei Báez (1981), born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. She lives and works in New York City. Her works include paper and canvas as well as large scale sculpture

Niurka Guzman Otañez (1981), born in Santo Domingo. A graduate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Guzman lives and works in Mexico City.

Paula Saneaux (1981), born in Santo Domingo. B.A. summa cum laude in Advertising, APEC University, Santo Domingo, A.A. summa cum laude and valedictorian in Fine Arts & Illustration, Altos De Chavón School of Design, B.F.A. with Honors in Fine Arts, Parsons The New School Of Design, New York.

Hulda Guzman (1984), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She studied visual arts and illustration at Altos de Chavón School of Design in the Dominican Republic, and she has a degree in visual arts from the National School of Visual Arts, Mexico, with a speciality in photography and mural painting.

Aniova Prandy (1985), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Prandy is a multidisciplinary, figurative artist, inspired by the Renaissance, Modern and Postmodern art movements.

Rosaly Martinez (1989), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She studied art at the National School of Fine Arts.

Dulcina Abreu (1991), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She studied art at The National School of Visual Arts in Santo Domingo (2012), Altos de Chavon School of Design (2014), and Parsons School of Design (2016).

Marie Jimenez (1991), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A multidisciplinary, Marie studied art at Altos de Chavon School of Design, and the Parsons School of Design.

Andrea Ottenwalder (1995), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She studied art at the Altos de Chavon School of Design.

The Future of Art

No fucking idea. When you consider the art movements that have sprung up within the last century, there is no way to imagine what will captivate us going forward. Even when you take into account the skills of hyper-realism painting, we still find ourselves overwhelmed by the simplest brush strokes and crudest aesthetics.

The Missing Names

The names missing from the lists included in this article are many. Some may frown at the exclusion of a specific artist, but these exclusions are not deliberate. A list truly representative of the history and women artists would be impossible to complete, as history never stops.

This article is only meant to be an introduction to Dominican art and the women that helped shape it. Written in hopes that the reader would be inspired by what he or she read and decide to further research an artist or period.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Please be aware that "History consists of making arguments about what happened in the past on the basis of what people recorded (in written documents, cultural artifacts, or oral traditions) at the time."

Much of what you have read has been compiled from the works of theses historians; Danilo de los Santos, Jeannette Miller, Myrna Guerrero, Cándido Gerón and many more whom may not have been properly credited in the publications read. There is also the efforts from various institutions that have helped to preserve the history; Centro Leon, Museo Bellapart, Museum of Modern Art Santo DOmingo (MAM), Banco Popular Dominicano and many more, including the Dominican government. And not to forget, the artists themselves.